1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to intelligent imaging appliances. More particularly, and not by way of any limitation, the present invention is directed to a device-initiated image processing transaction system and method.
2. Description of Related Art
Modern imaging devices such as, e.g., digital cameras, optical scanners, et cetera, represent some of the more sophisticated equipment developed in recent years. Typically, these devices are provided with a built-in processor subsystem that accesses raw image data captured by an imaging mechanism for subsequent processing before storing the images in local memory. Further, the images may be exported in some instances to remote external devices such as computers which may be interconnected with the imaging devices in a suitable network configuration.
Because both storage and transmission capacities are finite, an important performance feature relating to the imaging devices is their ability to efficiently process the image data into appropriate file formats. This concern is especially significant where high-quality images are involved since they comprise huge amounts of digital information.
Some of the more advanced imaging devices are accordingly provided with copies of file format transforms and compression algorithms required for high-quality image processing. Although providing such file format transforms and compression algorithms is a significant improvement, there exist several shortcomings and deficiencies in this approach, however. First, it may be necessary to store numerous transforms and compression algorithms in order to be able to process the image data into various known formats. As more advanced formatting technologies are developed, it is thus necessary to update or replace the existing transforms. In addition, more importantly, the file format transforms and compression algorithms are typically built into the conventional imaging devices as fixed, static entities that are not readily amenable to replacement or updating. As a consequence, redesigning the image processing capabilities in the existing imaging devices is cumbersome and costly.